A day after two women officials in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district took on BJP workers during a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act protest, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted praising their valour.
In videos which went viral on social media on Sunday, Collector Nidhi Nivedita is seen slapping a man and additional collector Priya Verma taking on some men who were part of the crowd.
The rally was organised by the BJP in Biaora town on Sunday despite prohibitory orders in place in the district since Saturday night, with officials claiming the party had refused to call it off despite pleas from the administration.
"BJP goondaism in Madhya Pradesh has come to the fore. Women collector and her deputy were beaten, hair pulled. We take pride in the two women officer's valour," Singh tweeted on Monday.
Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the BJP will move court if a case is not registered against Nivedita.
Both Nivedita and Verma have defended their conduct.
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"I did not slap him despite the fact that we are empowered to dismiss an unlawful assembly by physical force. I reacted only when he abused me," Nivedita said on Monday.
Verma had said on Sunday, sometime after the incident, that she took on the protesters after one of them pulled her hair and another kicked her in the waist.
"Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC are in place in the district. While we were doing our duty, a crowd came from the other side and misbehaved with us," Verma had said.